Stop the boers says Ramaphosa

For the first time since South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, the ANC’s grip on power is starting to slip.

Cyril Ramaphosa

The Democratic Alliance is making huge inroads into previously uncontested ANC strongholds like the former homeland of Transkei. In 2011, the number of DA municipal councillors increased to 16 from a mere two in 2006.

With Gauteng on path to be ruled by a coalition government in 2014, and a number of metro’s like Nelson Mandela Bay also set to be governed by the DA in 2016, the ANC seems at a loss on how to stop voters leaving the party in droves for a new political home.

Cyril Ramaphosa’s appeal to voters not to “return the boers to power” shows how stuck in the dark ages he is and how desperate the ANC is becoming.

The ANC is panicking which is why people like Ramaphosa are using the race card.

As Jacob Zuma’s ANC sees its power slipping, it appeals more and more to tired racial insinuations and the supernatural to convince supporters to stick with them.

First it was the fires of hell. Now it is the ghosts of the apartheid regime that are being invoked to scare voters into staying with a party that deserted them a long time ago.

As the ANC retreats into to its own racial laager, the DA is building a non-racial alternative that welcomes all South Africans, black and white, who believe in their vision of an open, opportunity society for all.

All parties have a responsibility to promote inclusivity in their campaigning. We are all South Africans and we are all free to support the party of our choice.

The politics of fear must make way for a new politics of hope. The 2014 election is about everyone who believes in change, young and old, putting themselves at the centre of power by voting in a new government.